A Tragic End
by Thn0715
Summary: Tragedy strikes home for the BAU. Warning - Character deaths.


**A/N: Hello once again friends. I am still dumbfounded and appalled by CBS' decision to cut AJ Cook from the cast of Criminal Minds. The show simply will not be the same without her amazing presence. I've read that CBS is in talks to bring her back for one episode to wrap up the character of JJ. That just depressed me even more. AJ Cook, the rest of the cast, and the fans deserve so much more than that after all the loyalty they've shown to the series. Anyway, there is only one way I can think of to write JJ out of the show without it going completely against her character. And I couldn't get it out of my head, so I wrote it down. Please forgive me…**

**Warning: Character deaths. *leaves behind a box of tissues***

* * *

Erin Strauss took a deep breath and made her way up the stairs to Aaron Hotchner's office. She knocked lightly on the door before entering. Hotch was standing behind his desk putting some reference books back on the bookshelf. He turned to face her and froze. The look on her face told him this visit had nothing at all to do with a case. Something was very wrong.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news. You may want to sit down."

Five minutes later, with his hands shaking, he sent out a mass text message to his team.

_**911. Back to BAU ASAP. Mt in conference rm. -AH.**_

911 was their emergency code. It was not used very often, but when it was they knew the situation was dire. When the team received the message each of them dropped everything they were doing and immediately returned to the BAU. Within 10 minutes they were all sitting in the conference room waiting for Hotch.

"Rossi, any idea what's going on?" Morgan piped up.

"No idea, but Strauss is in his office. That's never a good sign."

"I hope she's not trying to fire him again," Prentiss chimed in.

"I highly doubt he would have called us back here with her in his office if that were the case," Reid answered. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Anyone seen JJ yet?" Garcia asked.

"She's probably getting the case files ready in her office," Morgan answered. "This must be serious if Strauss brought it to Hotch herself."

Moments later, Hotch entered the conference room followed closely by Strauss. His eyes were red. He looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. She looked shaken. The team shared nervous, almost frightened glances with each other. Hotch looked around at his team and swallowed hard around the lump that now resided firmly in his throat, trying desperately to find a way to speak without his voice breaking. Rossi could tell he was only hanging on by a thread.

"Aaron," he spoke quietly. "What's happened?"

Hotch took a deep breath. "There's been an accident."

"Oh, God." Garcia sounded panicked. "It's JJ, isn't it?"

Hotch nodded slowly and took a shaky breath. "JJ, Will and Henry were on their way to visit JJ's parents in Pennsylvania. They…" His voice cracked. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to breathe. He tried talking again, but couldn't hold back the tear that slipped from his eye and rolled down his cheek.

"A drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned their car. It flipped three times. There…"

"No. Hotch, no." Morgan stood to face Hotch, his water-filled eyes begging him not to finish that statement.

"I'm sorry, Morgan." He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and didn't bother to fight his tears anymore, letting them flow freely. "There were no survivors."

"NO!" Garcia wailed, breaking into uncontrollable sobs. Morgan went to her side, wrapping her in his arms as tightly as he could. Prentiss buried her face in her hands letting her silent tears fall. Reid wrapped his arms tightly around his own chest as if that would keep his heart from breaking out of his chest and crashing to the floor. Rossi stared at Hotch, stunned.

"When did this happen?" he meekly managed to ask.

"Late last night, a little after midnight," Strauss answered quietly. "I got the call less than an hour ago. As I told Agent Hotchner earlier, your team is officially on stand-down for the next two weeks. I've spoken with Agent Jareau's family. Funeral services will be held in Pennsylvania. They haven't decided the specifics yet, but as soon as I know anything else, I'll let you all know. I'm very sorry."

Strauss left while Hotch regained enough of his composure to fill them in on the last of the details. "The car hit the passenger side. JJ and Henry were pronounced dead at the scene. Will made it to the hospital but died during surgery."

"I want the bastard who did this," Prentiss' broken voice rang out.

"He wasn't wearing a seat belt and went through the windshield on impact. He didn't survive."

Rossi sighed and shook his head, looking sympathetically up at Hotch. "I can't believe this. This feels like a bad dream."

"I wish."

Hotch looked around at what was left of his team. This had broken them. The crying, the sobbing, the look of utter hopelessness and helplessness consumed them all. He felt like the walls were closing in around him. Slowly and quietly, he made his way back to his office. He closed the door and finally allowed his grief to overtake him. He slid down the door to the floor, burying his face in his hands, and cried for his friend and her son.


End file.
